100 K-pop Songs You Should Listen to Today

100 K-pop Songs You Should Listen to Today

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details. Thanks for supporting the brands that make The Happy Arkansan possible!

Korean pop (K-pop) is one of the most popular genres in 2019. From huge boy groups like BTS to talented girl groups like BLACKPINK, K-pop is a rising genre that has been making headlines in the western music charts. Some fans may be familiar with K-pop, while others may have never heard of Korean music before. So, what better way to talk about this wonderful genre than to share 100 K-pop songs? Before I share my playlist, I’ll dive in a little bit more on K-pop, how I got into K-pop, and why I enjoy this genre.

What’s K-Pop?

K-pop is a hard genre to define because it’s not just pop music that’s sung in Korean. It is a diverse genre that has sub-genre within in it. Sometimes you’ll have the classic K-pop song that’s very cutesy and adorable. While other times you may find the song to be very masculine, sexy, or highly influenced by the western culture. Also, K-pop groups were created by their companies, and there’s a particular image that each group has to uphold. Therefore, not every group produces the same genre of music, nor do they have the same style.

Unlike western music, most of these K-pop groups didn’t form together because they grew up together. They formed because they went through a rigorous audition process and trainee life. Also, there may be other components that a trainee must do before they can debut with their group or as solo artists. Unfortunately, most groups, if not all of them, do not have a say on who gets to be in their group. They don’t have much creative freedom until they reach a certain level of success.

As most of you can see, K-pop is so different than western music because there’s a whole process that’s behind the industry that can “create” an idol. However, all of the hard work may pay off for some groups because they’ll (hopefully) reach a level of success that can gain them tons of recognition. So, K-pop is a competitive industry, and only the best of the best can survive it.

How I Got Into K-Pop

Although K-pop is a challenging industry to understand, K-pop as a genre is by far one of my most favorite genres in the world. I’ve been a fan since 2010, and I can honestly say that K-pop has changed significantly since I’ve joined the family. Even though a lot has changed since I’ve started listening to K-pop, I’m still amazed by how diverse the genre has become and how many talented groups have been debuting these days.

When I first listened to K-pop, I was new to listening to music that was in a different language because most of my favorite songs at the time were in English. So, when my friend introduced me to Korean music, I thought it was interesting and unique. The first group that I listened to was a boy group called “JYJ,” and they had a song called “Ayy Girl” with Kanye West and Malik Yusef. Then, I discovered my first girl group, which was “miss A” and then I started to immerse myself into the K-pop culture. Soon, I discovered the “legendary” groups from the BIG 3 company, and I found myself staying up all night watching variety shows that featured my favorite groups.

Once I started to understand the industry more, I found my place in the K-pop world, and I joined some fandoms that had the same taste in music that I did. This may be hard to believe, but there’s a group or an artist for everybody in the K-pop world. It does take a bit of searching and digging, but I promise there’s something for everybody in the K-pop world. Therefore, I’m excited to share 100 K-pop songs to you, and I hope you’ll be interested enough to dive into the industry on your own.

100 Essential K-Pop Songs

Now let’s dive into the playlist:

As If It's Your Last – BLACKPINK

Monster – EXO

Gashina – SUNMI

DDU-DU DDU-DU – BLACKPINK

Overdose – EXO

LATATA – (G)I-DLE

Bad Boy – Red Velvet

Heroine – SUNMI

Russian Roulette – Red Velvet

Roller Coaster – CHUNG HA

Forever Young – BLACKPINK

LOVE SCENARIO – iKON

Lil' Touch – Girls' Generation

BLACK DRESS – CLC

Oh NaNa (Hidden. Hur Young JI.) – KARD

365 FRESH – Triple H

Runaway – Eric Nam

Dispatch – HEIZE

The fifth season (SSFWL) – OH MY GIRL

Her Fine Weather – HEIZE

Highway to Heaven – NCT 127

MIROH – Stray Kids

Bomb Bomb – KARD

Kill This Love – BLACKPINK

I Need U – CLC

Dalla Dalla – ITZY

PIRI – DREAMCATCHER

BLUE MOON – GYEONG REE

gogobebe – Mamamoo

Boy With Love – BTS feat. Halsey

SOLO – JENNIE

Gotta Go – CHUNG HA

TWIT – Hwa Sa

RBB (Really Bad Boy) – Red Velvet

No – CLC

REALLY REALLY – WINNER

ISLAND – WINNER

EVERYDAY – WINNER

Haru Haru – BIGBANG

View – SHINee

Why So Lonely – Wonder Girls

I'm so sick – Apink

Be a Man – MBLAQ

%%(Eung Eung) – Apink

Four Seasons – TAEYEON

Mystery – HYOYEON

Dally – Hyolyn (feat. Gray)

SEE SEA – Hyolyn

4 Walls – f(x)

All Night – ASTRO

Treasure – ATEEZ

1004 – B.A.P

HANDS UP – B.A.P

ONE SHOT – B.A.P

LIKEY – TWICE

Senorita – (G)I-DLE

NOIR – SUNMI

Sweet Crazy Love – LOONA / ODD EYE CIRCLE

Thank U Soooo Much – Yubin

Sorry, Sorry – SUPER JUNIOR

Fiction – Beast

Mirotic – TVXQ!

Nobody (Eng Ver.) – Wonder Girls

Because of you – After School

Bo Peep Bo Peep – T-ara

What's your name? – 4Minute

Love Girl – CNBLUE

Love is – Teen Top

What If Love – WENDY

Wind flower – Mamamoo

Don't Recall – KARD

ONE – Samuel (feat. Jung Ilhoon)

Down – Jessi

FIRE – 2NE1

Lion Heart – Girls' Generation

I LOVE YOU – 2NE1

Drive – Jay Park (feat. GRAY)

Only You – miss A

July 7th – DREAMCATCHER

Good Bye Baby – miss A

Shoot Me – Day6

BABE – HyunA

Touch – miss A

Ring My Bell – Girl's Day

U R Man – SS501

Love Sick – FTISLAND

My House – 2PM

Summer Night's Dream – FTISLAND

Black & White – G.NA

B.B.B Big Baby Baby – Dalshabet

Shampoo – After School

I GUESS I NEED U – B.A.P

Love Ya – SS501

FIANCÉ – MINO

La Vie en Rose – IZ*ONE

SHA LA LA – PENTAGON

DRAMARAMA – Monsta X

I Wander – HA:TFELT (feat. Gaeko)

Twenty-Three – IU

FEEDBACK – LADIES' CODE

Check Out The Playlist On Spotify

Conclusion

K-pop is by far one of my favorite genres these days, and I hope my playlist did it justice because there are so many more catchy songs out there than the songs that I’ve shared today. I hope I’ve opened up a door to a new genre to you and hopefully, you’ll join the K-pop family.

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

disable

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.